Newcastle United youngster Yankuba Minteh should consider staying at Feyenoord next season, so he can experience Champions League football with the Dutch side.
That’s according to Roy Makaay, who believes that the youngster should spend another season in the Netherlands to aid his development.
Minteh joined Feyenoord on loan from Newcastle just a day after being signed by the Magpies from Danish side Odense.
The hope was that he would establish himself under Arne Slot and get regular first-team football in the Eredivisie, a division that’s produced plenty of young talent down the years.
He’s been able to do that, with nine goals and four assists an impressive record despite only featuring in 47% of the available minutes in the league this season.
Indeed, a record of ten goals and four assists in 32 games in all competitions is perhaps better than anyone would have imagined for the 19-year-old.
The big question is what happens in the summer, with Newcastle unlikely to have missed the fact their man has been doing so well away from St James Park.
The debate is whether they take him back and add him to Eddie Howe’s squad or let him stay at Feyenoord, who have expressed a desire to keep him if possible. For Makaay, the answer is an obvious one.
“If you score two goals and provide an assist in De Klassieker, you are the man of the weekend for me,” he told ESPN, relayed by FR 12.
“The second one in particular was of great beauty. He curls it in really beautifully. Kenneth Perez called him a dice football player, where you always wonder what kind of match he is going to play.
“But Minteh has really been in good shape in recent weeks. When he has it on his hips, he is very difficult to defend.
“I think it would be good for that boy if he stays in De Kuip for another year. The question remains whether he can be equal in the Premier League, and he will also enter the Champions League with Feyenoord, so he can taste the highest level. I think it’s better for his development.”
